The Grand Conjunction, US Dept of Labor responds on H2A labor contractor abuses, and some red anniversaries

A response from the US Department of Labor to the Farm Labor Organizing Committee's letterwriting campaign regarding abuses of workers' rights by agricultural guestworker labor contractors (see durhamspark.blogspot.com/2020/11/floc-songs-for-justice-concert-124-and.html ) is below.

The FLOC fundraising concert advertised in that post was delayed a day, but is online at: youtu.be/a87gbLcYfTU (1 hour 12 minutes).

FLOC December benefit concert program, from Facebook.

December 21^st is the winter solstice, when night is longest and the Sun rises and sets far south on the horizon and is relatively low in the sky all day. Many or maybe all cultures have winter solstice traditions or festivals, such as Iran's Yalda Night or Chelleh Night ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yald%C4%81_Night and highlighted yesterday on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday www.npr.org/2020/12/20/948315562/yalda-night ).

Adding to the significance of the day, there will also be an unusually close conjuction of Jupiter and Saturn shortly after sunset. A conjuction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs every 20 years, but this is the closest such conjuction visible at night in centuries (the last close Jupiter-Saturn conjunction that was easily seen might have been one in 1226, according to this month's Sky and Telescope magazine, skyandtelescope.org/ ), and I think the next one will be on a morning in March 2080, the month of the Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox, when day an night are about equally long and the Sun rises due east and sets due west. These two bright planets have been visible in the southern sky for months, but now appear very close together, peaking early this evening in the faint zodiacal constellation Capricornus, in the southwest. I looked for Jupiter and Saturn a few days ago, but they must have been very low behind trees or had already set by then. These gas giants are among the brightest objects in the sky (visible even through urban light pollution, the subject of a future post), and unlike stars, planets don't really twinkle. With a telescope or maybe with binoculars some of their moons and rings are visible, and from the continental USA Ganymede can be seen passing across Jupiter tonight. It was misty and overcast here this morning, but is now completely clear, and the planets will probably remain close together in the sky for a while after the 21^st.

Later tonight (about 4am) the Ursid meteor shower peaks (Ursids can be seen from about the 17^th to 26^th every December), though it is a weak shower, with 5 to 10 or 15 meteors an hour. There are meteor showers with varying numbers of meteors per hour and other characteristics throughout the year, as well as random meteors not associated with a known shower. Earlier in December the Geminid shower peaked with up to 50 to 150 meteors an hour, and is predicted to reach 200 by 2080, according to an article in this month's issue of Sky and Telescope.

Other conjuctions happen periodically during a year, and can involve more than two objects. It might not have been a conjunction, but several planets were lined up in the sky, I think in the southwest after sunset, at one point in the 90's. Brilliant Venus is currently a “Morning Star,” while reddish Mars (orange-colored to me) is in the southeast in the evening (it was brighter months ago); Neptune, Uranus, and the asteriod Ceres are also currently in view (see Astronomy magazine, astronomy.com ), but probably only with binoculars or a telescope. Mercury was faintly visible in the morning in November and maybe into December, but will be up in the evening later in the winter.

Some useful stargazing websites:

spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2020/12/mon-winter-begins-great-conjunction.html

heavens-above.com/main.aspx

www.spaceweather.com/

International Meteor Organization: www.imo.net/

December 21^st is also the birth anniversary of Georgian Bolshevik Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (Djugashvili) and Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, known as Africa's Che Guevara. Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong (or Tse-tung) was born December 26^th in China's Hunan province.

There is a post today about Stalin's continuing significance, denied by revisionists, “democratic socialists,” etc. at michaelharrison.org.uk/

FLOC Facebook post about workers' rights violations by H2A labor contractors.

The US DOL's December 15^th letter (by email):

The U.S. Department of Labor (Department) received your letter expressing concerns regarding the Department's H-2A visa program and request for a moratorium on the approval of H-2A applications filed by H-2A labor contractors (H-2ALCs). Your correspondence was forwarded to the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) for response.

You allege certain H-2ALCs are violators of federal law. The Department takes very seriously employer compliance with the Department's H-2A program regulations, which include provisions for worker protections and impose employer requirements concerning wages and working conditions [footnote: See 20 CFR Part 655, subpart B; and 29 CFR Psart 501.]. However, these regulations do not allow the Department to impose a moratorium or cessation on the review of properly filed applications that meet H-2A regulatory requirements.

The Department's regulations at 20 CFR Part 655, subpart B, permit H-2ALCs to file H-2A applications with the Department and to receive a certification where the application meets the requirements of 20 CFR 655.161. The Department's regulations define H-2ALCs in 20 CFR 655.103 as “any person who meets the definition of employer under [subpart B] and is not a fixed-site employer, an agricltural association, or an employee of a fixed-site employer or agricultural association...who recruits, solicits, hires, employs, furnishes, houses, or transports any worker....” H-2ALCs must meet the same program requirements as other H-2A employers, including assurances and guarantees, and are subject to additional requirements for participation in the H-2A prigram. For example, to receive H-2A certification, an H-2ALC must also provide the Department with the following: an original surety bond demonstrating the H-2ALC's ability to meet payroll and financial obligations to workers; pertinent details related to each fixed-site employer they will service, with expected start and end dates of work and descriptions of the crops and activities for each location; copies of fully executed work contracts with each fixed-site employer; a copy of a valid Farm Labor Contractor certificate of registration and Farm Labor Contractor Employee certificates of registration, if applicable; and proof that housing and transportation for workers meets all applicable standards and regulations, if provided by the fized-site employer. See 20 CFR Part 655.132. The Department will continue to receive and evaluate each application on its merits for compliance with H-2A program regulations and determine whether each application meets the requirements for certification.

While your letter alleges violations of a general nature, you may report a specific suspected violation of H-2A's provisions by contacting the Department's Wage and Hour Division for direct assistance at (866) 487-9243 or https://www.dol.org/agencies/whd/. Please know the Department remains in frequent contact with our federal and state partners and the stakeholder community to ensure employer compliance with H-2A program requirements. If you have any additional questions, please contact ETA's Office of Foreign Labor Certification at (202) 513-7350.

Sincerely,

[Signed by an administrator at the Office of Foreign Labor Certification]

Six years since the last of the Cuban Five political prisoners were released; Gerardo Hernández elected to Cuba's Council of State

The Cuban Five - Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, Antonio Guerrero, René González, and Ramón Labañino

The last three of the Cuban Five political prisoners, imprisoned by the USA after monitoring US-based terrorist groups, were released December 17, 2014.  Among them was Gerardo Hernández, who was elected to Cuba's Council of State and is the national coordinator of Cuba's Committees in Defense of the Revolution.  He was once mentioned by the BBC as a likely candidate for a high position in the Cuban state.  Improving relations with Cuba was a positive foreign policy of the Obama-Biden administration, as was negotiating with Iran, though overthrowing the Cuban Revolution and again dominating Cuba politically and economically was and is the US objective.  Restoring normal diplomatic relations and trade with Cuba would probably be economically beneficial for North Carolina and the US as a whole.  Below is an email sent out yesterday by the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee (formerly the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, www.freethefive.org/ , which organized demonstrations, prison solidarity with the Five, forums, carried out legal research, etc.), www.cuba-venezuela.org/index.php/en/ :

Gerardo Hernández elected to Cuba's Council of State

Six years to the day after Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero and Ramon Labañino joined their previously released comrades Fernando González and René González in returning home to Cuba, Gerardo was elected to the prestigious Cuban Council of State. It is a post of great honor and great responsibility, for which Gerardo is both fully deserving and fully capable. Even before conducting their dangerous mission in the United States, preventing acts of terrorism against Cuba, the Cuban Five Heroes dedicated their lives to serving and defending the people of Cuba and the Cuban Revolution. Gerardo was also recently named the national coordinator of the Committees in Defense of the Revolution, a critical task in the face of the ever-escalating U.S. aggression against Cuba.

Recalling the work of the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five

The predecessor of the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee, the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, was formed just days after the unjust conviction of the Cuban Five on June 8, 2001. We worked tirelessly from that day until the day all five returned to Cuba on December 17, 2014, fulfilling the promise made by Fidel Castro — Volveran!

A complete timeline of the key events during that period can be found on our old website, which is still accessible. The website also contains invaluable resources in studying the history of the struggle to free the Five, including legal documents, audio and video files, and lots more. You can see the first national march on Washington for the Five, held on Sept. 23, 2006, the unveiling of billboards for the Five in Los Angeles and San Francisco, speakers at many antiwar marches spreading the word about the case of the Five, and lots more.

Here's one of the many speeches on the site, with committee coordinator Gloria La Riva speaking at a march for political prisoners held at the Democratic Convention in Denver in August, 2008 (please excuse the lower resolution; technology has advanced since 2008!).

March on Washington to free the Cuban Five, September 23, 2006.

17 de diciembre de 2020: sexto aniversario del regreso de los Cinco Héroes cubanos

Hoy, seis años después del día en que Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero y Ramón Labañino se unieron a sus compañeros previamente liberados Fernando González y René González al regresar a Cuba, Gerardo fue elegido miembro del prestigioso Consejo de Estado de Cuba. Es un cargo de gran honor y gran responsabilidad, del que Gerardo es plenamente merecedor y plenamente capaz. Incluso antes de realizar su peligrosa misión en los Estados Unidos, previniendo actos de terrorismo contra Cuba, los Cinco Héroes cubanos dedicaron su vida a servir y defender al pueblo de Cuba y la Revolución Cubana. Gerardo también fue nombrado recientemente coordinador nacional de los Comités de Defensa de la Revolución, una tarea crítica ante la creciente agresión de Estados Unidos contra Cuba.

Recordando el labor del Comité por la Libertad de los Cinco Cubanos

El antecesor del Comité de Solidaridad Cuba y Venezuela, el Comité Nacional por la Libertad de los Cinco Cubanos, se formó pocos días después de la injusta condena de los Cinco Cubanos el 8 de junio de 2001. Trabajamos incansablemente a partir de ese día hasta el día en que los Cinco regresaron a Cuba el 17 de diciembre de 2014, cumpliendo la promesa hecha por Fidel Castro - ¡Volverán!

Se puede encontrar una cronología completa de los eventos clave durante ese período en nuestro antiguo sitio web, que aún está disponible. El sitio web también contiene recursos invaluables para estudiar la historia de la lucha por liberar a los Cinco, incluso documentos legales, archivos de audio y video, y mucho más. Puede ver la primera marcha nacional en Washington para los Cinco, celebrada el 23 de septiembre de 2006, la inauguración de vallas publicitarias para los Cinco en Los Ángeles y San Francisco, oradores en muchas marchas contra la guerra que difunden la noticia sobre el caso de los Cinco, y mucho mas.

Este es uno de los muchos discursos en el sitio, con la coordinadora del comité Gloria La Riva hablando en una marcha por los presos políticos celebrada frente a la Convención Demócrata en Denver en agosto de 2008 (disculpe la resolución más baja; ¡la tecnología ha avanzado desde 2008!).

Commemoration of the October Socialist Revolution repressed; RCWP seeking international solidarity

The Russian Communist Workers' Party of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is seeking international statements of solidarity after a demonstration commemorating the Great October Socialist Revolution was repressed November 7th in Tyumen (a city in southwestern Siberia, near the Ural Mountains and Kazakhstan).  Local RCWP leader and journalist Alexandr Kipriyanovich Cherepanov is being charged with assault on the police, with the possibility of five years imprisonment.  The RCWP sent out the article below (I changed a few typos).  Organizations can send letters in solidarity to ak_rkrp /at/ mail period ru.  Letters have already been received from groups in Greece, Hungary, Italy, France, Belgium, and elsewhere.  The RCWP-CPSU's website in Russian and English is:    rkrp-rpk.ru/

Alexandr Kipriyanovich Cherepanov

Alexandr Kipriyanovich Cherepanov was born on January 21, 1950 in a working class family.

From 1991 to the present day  he is a communist of the Russian Communist Workers' Party. He is the first secretary of the Tyumen regional committee and secretary of the Central Committee for organizational and party work. He graduated from the Oil and Gas University and the Leningrad Academy of Civil Aviation. For 24 years he worked in civil aviation as an engineer, deputy head of the Roshchino airport. Was elected a deputy of the Tyumen City Council and a deputy of the Tyumen Regional Duma of 1-3 convocations. He is editor-in-chief of the newspaper Trudovaya Tyumen. He is a staunch Leninist-Stalinist, known as an implacable fighter against the arbitrariness of officials and for his active support of the Donbass people’s struggle.

Marital status: Married, has two adult sons, a granddaughter and 5 grandsons.

_____________________________

From Russia:

We accuse the authorities of fascism!

 

On November 7, the day of the 103rd anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the city and regional authorities  of Tyumen got their test to pass. Constantly assuring us that they honour the history of the country and strongly oppose its rewriting, they simply deceive the people. And the events of November 7 very well confirmed this. Speculating on the dangers of the coronavirus, the authorities are completely brazen. Since the end of March this year, by relentlessly prohibiting the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU celebrating the memorable dates of the Soviet era, they are actually trying to erase the Soviet period and its great achievements from the memory of the peoples of Russia. They themselves rewrite the history of the country. Who gave them the right to do this?

 

The coronavirus somehow does not prevent them from holding trade fairs (as many as four at once in one day! And all on November 7!), opening hot springs, theaters, holding concerts in the Philharmonic hall and various mass events. It's not dangerous. But the Communists should be completely banned, which they were. Apparently, the well-known plan of A. Dulles is the inspiration for our authorities. Yes, the same Dulles, who planned to gradually, step by step, shake the foundations of Soviet society, destroy, and then erase the Soviet era from the memory of the peoples. To divide the nations forever into masters and slaves. Today, the Tyumen authorities are actually implementing the Dulles plan.

 

In fact, Tyumen banned Communists from all events and banned Communists in General. And the ban on Communists equals fascism. The Tyumen authorities inculcate the ideology of fascism. When they were eager for power, they "chattered" about multiparty, tolerance, and the diversity of forms of ownership. Where is it? They took power by deception and usurped it. They even managed to steal the Victory Day from the people!

 

On November 7, a mass of police officers, young and healthy, staged outrages at the Technocenter, where the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU gathered to march to the Central square of the city in honour of the 103 anniversary of the Great October. There were many elderly people among the Communists. But this did not bother the police in the least. They grabbed the first Secretary of the regional Committee A. K. Cherepanov and dragged him to the car. They threw him into the car on the floor, and a young "policeman" grabbed his hands from behind and did not let him get to his feet. I then found his photo on the Internet at night, this young, real "policeman". What was he thinking at that moment? I repeatedly demanded that he release Cherepanov's hands and let him get into the car normally. But he didn't listen. The desire to curry favour overshadowed his mind. Apparently, this new gendarme did not know that he was holding in his "claws" a Communist figure well-known not only in Tyumen, but also a well-known active figure in the international Communist movement. Alexander Kiprianovich is very well known abroad, and we will make every effort to make the outrages of the Tyumen police done with the blessing of the Tyumen authorities, known to the international community.

 

"Gendarme", apparently, does not know that Alexander Kiprianovich is far from a young man, a former Deputy of the Tyumen regional Duma of three (!) convocations. He is well known not only in the Tyumen region, but also in both Northern districts. People trust him. As a Deputy, he helped hundreds of thousands of people, without refusing to help anyone. Perhaps Alexander Kipriyanovich, helped the mother or father of this "policeman" to survive in the 1990s. The head is actually given to a person in order to think, and not just to stare. So, think "policeman", think.

 

Four police officers pushed me away from the car with A. K. Cherepanov. At this time, by some miracle, Cherepanov's wife T. N. Cherepanova managed to get into the car with Cherepanov. She firmly told the police that Cherepanov was ill, and she would not leave him, but would go with him. As it became known, a Protocol was drawn up for her under article 19.3 of the administrative Code of the Russian Federation "Insubordination to police officers". I immediately remembered the recent story of N. F. Trapsh, a woman, a veteran of the oil and gas industry, who was accused by the former Deputy head of Tyumen, M. Afanasyev, of attempted murder. This is an 82-year-old woman! So Tatiana Nikolaevna, this little woman, how could she cope with the police who tried to push her out of the minibus?

 

By banning us from holding demonstrations and rallies, the administration of Tyumen, Mr. Kuharuk and Malygin violated the decisions Of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. They are violators of the law, not Cherepanov and the Communists. And they are the ones who should be on trial, if the truth to be told.

 

None of this could have happened if the Tyumen authorities respected the people and agreed to give permission to the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU who have declared their intention to hold this event three times (!). Since this is a Holy holiday for every worker, it is simply impossible not to celebrate it. But the Tyumen authorities despise the people! And all the Soviet and red flags just infuriate them. The plans of Hitler and Dulles are much more closer to their heart. They forgot that after a new war with the people there will be a new Nuremberg trial. And that they will have to answer for all the atrocities!

 

 

In the Tyumen region, we have a  fascist dictatorship

 

November 7 is a day that is revered all over the world as the day on which the Great October Socialist Revolution took place, the day when the whole world changed and went along the path of confrontation with the power of capital to build socialism. All over the world, this holiday is revered and respected, but not in the homeland of the Great October. The bourgeois government, which seeks to silence the achievements of the socialist revolution by all possible means, removed the status of a holiday from November 7, replacing it with an incomprehensible "Day of Unity". And this year the administration of Tyumen in general committed an unprecedented act- it banned a demonstration and rally of workers on November 7. All under the pretext of fighting the pandemic. That is, it is normal to hold festivities on November 4  (the "Unity Day") or mass parties in honour of Halloween, or trade fairs with thousands oof people in Tyumen on November 7. But if people take to the streets on November 7, mass infection will immediately begin. This is the logic of power.

 

Representatives of the Communist party of the Russian Federation immediately agreed with the proposal of the Tyumen administration that laying flowers at the monument to V. I. Lenin would be enough for them on this day, but the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU understand all the significance and revolutionary essence of this day and therefore, until the very last moment, they proved to the Tyumen administration that they would hold a demonstration and rally on this day. But the city administration and law enforcement agencies really did not want such a demonstration to take place. That's why they were threatening with reprisals, forced to sign warnings and warned in every possible way not to hold a demonstration.

 

On November 7, 2020, the Tyumen authorities "distinguished themselves" throughout whole Russia by banning the demonstration of Communists of the RCWP-CPSU in honour of the Great October Socialist revolution. Even with the arrests of the Communists. Even in Moscow, where the coronavirus is rampant (according to official data), much stronger than anywhere else in Russia, and even more so than in the Tyumen region, where there are at most 150 cases a day – there the Communist party calmly held all the festive events, including a demonstration.

 

Why is this happening? Because in the Tyumen region and in the city of Tyumen, the most real fascists are entrenched, followers of Vlasov and Bandera, who fiercely hate the Communists, the red flag, Victory Day on May 9 and the October revolution. So don't be surprised, comrades. Hitler and Mussolini did the same, forbidding Communist marches, demonstrations, and rallies. They also threw Communists behind bars.

 

Tyumen's  Vlasov followers  in power did not invent anything new. A. K. Cherepanov (first Secretary of the Tyumen regional Committee of the RCWP-CPSU) writes directly to them in his letters: "Are Moore and Kuharuk ideological followers of Hitler and Mussolini?" And according to their deeds, it turns out that they are – they are ideological followers of Hitler and Mussolini.

 

As they, apparently, rejoice in the coronavirus – now they can create any lawlessness, break all the laws and nothing will happen to them. Because the coronavirus is rampant. Everything can be blamed on it- the refusal of medical care, and forcing everyone wear masks around the clock, and it gives an excuse to destroy the Communist movement by nipping it in the bud. In general, to eradicate any opposition, any dissent -this is their dream.

 

But at least one Communist party in Tyumen is still alive–  we will continue to fight for Soviet power, for socialism and against fascism, no matter how high in the government offices they hide.

 

Therefore, in Tyumen on November 7, despite the fact that the police blocked a demonstration of Communists of the RCWP-CPSU and detained three people, the March still took place, as well as a meeting with the laying of flowers.

 

On November 7, 2020, residents of Tyumen came to the traditional gathering place of the demonstration-the Tyumen Technopark. There were already a fair number of police here, and they looked as if they would not allow the demonstration to take place. Moreover, they declared several times that the demonstration was illegal and demanded to disperse. But the Tyumen residents who took to the streets that day were ready to go to the end.

When it was time to start the March, the demonstrators tried to cross the road to start moving along the sidewalk of Republic street to the monument to Lenin, but the exit was blocked by traffic police cars. The police seized A. K. Cherepanov, dragged him to the car, and threw him into the minibus. He had only been released from the hospital a couple of days ago, where he was suffering from pneumonia, with 64% lung damage. He has a bad heart, but no one was going to give him any help, they were even not going to allow him to get his pills.

 

Then the Chairman of the Tyumen regional Committee of Soviet women T. R. Tselykh and T. N. Cherepanova ran up to the car and tried to help A. K. Cherepanov, to give him medicine, but the police used brute force on them. They started pushing them out of the van. Cherepanov's wife was able to stay in the van’s doors, and the police, led by the Deputy chief of police of the Tyumen region, Lieutenant Colonel V. S. Volkovitsky, threw her out of the minibus. Other members of the RCWP-CPSU tried to block the exit to prevent the car from leaving the square. The police immediately attacked them, knocking several pensioners to the ground, and detained the Secretary of the Tyumen regional Committee of the RKRP-CPSU S. M. Tselykh.

 

As we learned already at the meeting, which took place on the Central square near the monument to V. I. Lenin, all three were going to be detained for 2 days for allegedly “attacking police officersQ. But neither A. K. Cherepanov nor his wife attacked the police. Nor did S. M. Tselykh. On the contrary, they were subjected to violence by the police. The whole process of police brutality and fascist lawlessness on the part of the authorities is captured on video and photographed. Anyone can view it on the Internet.

 

Let's go back to the procession and the meeting. The police were clearly going to escalate the conflict and intimidated people that if they did not disperse, they would all be detained. The people began to sing in unison: "Boldly we will go into battle." And we decided to go to the Central square. Then the police tried to forbid us going with flags and banners. To which they received the answer that fascism was defeated under these flags, and to carry these flags is a tribute to the memory of the real Communists who died. Some participants asked the police the question: what flag should be carried – the American flag or maybe the flag of Nazi Germany? Or shall we raise the Vlasov tricolor? To please all sorts of fascists, Vlasovites, traitors to the Soviet Motherland?!

After negotiations with the police, which were very stormy, the March along the sidewalk of Republic street began.

 

People went anyway. And they went with the banner of the party, the red flags of the USSR, the RCWP, the Rot Front, the Left front, with banners and songs. No matter what. And we reached the Central square, where the largest monument to V. I. Lenin in Russia stands. The column went along Republic street – the Central street of the city. People cheered and joined the column. Already at the entrance to the Central square, police officers tried to detain the Secretary of the Tyumen regional Committee of the RCWP-CPSU, M. A. Savelkov, allegedly for organizing a march down the street. But thanks to the activity of the marchers, it was repulsed.

 

The city administration "graciously" agreed to lay flowers for a small number of participants, after which the participants, according to the Tyumen administration, immediately had to disperse. But the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU held a full-fledged solemn meeting in honour of the 103rd anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, at which there were many bright speeches.

 

The meeting was opened by the Secretary of the Tyumen city Committee of the RKRP-CPSU V. N. Minina. After the election of M. A. Savelkov as the Chairman of the Assembly, the USSR Anthem with a Stalinist version of the text was played. After that, he gave the floor to A. K. Cherepanov, who was in the police Department No. 5. Alexander Kiprianovich congratulated everyone by phone, from the name of the Central Committee of the RCWP-CPSU and the Central Committee of the CPSU. But as soon as he started talking about the achievements of V. I. Lenin and the Soviet government, the police began to take away his phone, which he tried use to speak  for the meeting, and disrupted his speech.

 

Member of the Tyumen regional committee of RCWP-CPSU V. I. Belendir with a thunderous voice first congratulated everyone on the occasion of the Great October Socialist Revolution, and then asked, what right have the authorities of the city of Tyumen and the police to encroach on the red flag that saved the world from fascism. Our ancestors went into battle under the Red Banner, marched on Red square on November 7, 1941 to defend Moscow and the country. And now, if the authorities and the police think it shouldn’t be carried on the streets,  is it an outlaw?!!

 

Professor of the Tyumen Industrial University, doctor of technical Sciences M. Kh. Uteshev said that the revolution is beginning in the United States and is spreading to other countries of the world. And we will have a new socialist revolution in Russia. It will definitely happen.

 

Candidate of Historical Sciences L. A. Pashkova in her speech said that November 7 should be the day of national unity, if you refer to historical documents. It was on November 7 that the Kremlin was liberated from the Polish invaders (in the early 17th century) and not on November 4, as the bourgeois, anti-people government had invented. And today we need the unity of the people to expel this bourgeois power.

 

The Chairman of the Tyumen regional Committee of Soviet women, T. R. Tselykh, reported that in Tyumen, the authorities and the bourgeoisie are tightening repression against the people, introducing a ban on communism as the criminal Boris Yeltsin did. Since November 8, hot springs have been opened, so in fact the coronavirus is not as dangerous as officials write in letters in response to Communist requests. At the end of the speech, T. R. Tselykh read poems by Marina Strukova about heroes and those who stay at home:

   There are few who will get out of line

   Sleep, cowards, you will be saved by heroes -

   Three People for the whole country.

   It's easy for you – your way is to the window from the door

   And someone’s way is from fire to fire.

   Somewhere in the open field, animals howl,

   And Peresvet (Russian hero of 1380 Kulikovo Field Battle) approaches the horse.

   Sleep, cowards. On this dark night

   Candles light up in the distance.

   Your banner is torn to shreds,

   Someone picks it up out of the dust.

   There's a war going on for your tomorrow,

   There's someone who cares about faith.

   It is clear – someone protects from the enemy

   The truth that you have betrayed.

   In the muddy mud of a well-fed rest

   You're frozen forever anyway.

   Sleep, cowards, you will be saved by heroes!

   Freedom to the freedom loving ones and the bottom of shame to those who were saved.

 

This is just about those ordinary people who sit like mice in holes, huddled in their cosy apartments.

 

Chairman of the meeting, Secretary of the regional Committee of the RCWP-CPSU for youth policy M. A. Savelkov read out the draft resolution of the meeting participants. Among other requirements, it contained the demand of prosecution of the Chairman of the Committee on Inter-Ethnic Relations of Tyumen, R. V. Malygin, for illegally obstructing the Communists of the RCWP-CPSU in holding public events. Malygin, by the way, was present on the square, and the participants of the meeting together shouted to him several times " Shame!".

 

Shame on Malygin and the rest of the city and regional government officials who finally descended to fascism. However, what else to expect from those who sit in offices under the Vlasov flag. If they are sitting under such flag, then they share the ideas that the traitor General Vlasov preached, while faithfully serving the Nazis headed by Hitler. And the current Tyumen bourgeois authorities inherited this brutal hatred of the Communists and the red flag to the full extent. They jump even ahead of Moscow and its mayor Sobyanin. Hitler would have applauded them.

 

The participants of the meeting unanimously voted for the Resolution with strict requirements for the authorities to improve the social and political situation in the country and the requirement to take real measures to improve the medical situation in the region. The Resolution also included a requirement to release all detained participants of the March and not to bring them to criminal or administrative responsibility.

 

At the end, to the tune of the eternal song "And the battle continues again...", flowers were laid at the monument to V. I. Lenin. This would have been a fitting end to the day on November 7 in any other case. But not in 2020. Even during the meeting, the participants learned that the detainees A. K. Cherepanov, T. N. Cherepanova and S. M. Tselykh were threatened to be locked up in the police station for 2 days, allegedly for attacking police officers. Then many demonstrators moved to the police station to demand the release of the detainees. We managed to achieve our goal, and all three were released on the same day, at about 19 o'clock in the evening.

ICMLPO's Unity and Struggle #41 published

The winter issue of Unity & Struggle, journal of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations ( www.cipoml.net/ , available in English, Spanish, and Turkish) has been published and is available in the USA for $6 dollars from Red Star Publishers/Ediciones Estrella Roja ( redstarpublishers.org/U&S41.htm ).

Contents:

ICMLPO
Honor and Glory to Comrade Raul Marco
International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and organizations

Bolivia
Their "Democracy" and Ours
Revolutionary Communist Party of Bolivia (PCB)

Brazil
The Betrayal by the Communist Party of China (CPC) of the Working Class and the 1949 Revolution
Revolutionary Communist Party (PCR)

Burkina Faso
Solidarity with the People’s Struggles in the United States against Impunity for Police Violence and Racist Crimes
Revolutionary Communist Party of Volta

Denmark
The Strengthening of the European Union on the Backs of the Working Class
Workers Communist Party, APK

Dominican Republic
An Experience in the International Communist Movement
On the 40th Anniversary of the Communist Party of Labor
Contributions to the Critical and Optimistic Assessment
Communist Party of Labor (PCT)

Ecuador
Modern Revisionism, Direct Enemy of the Revolution and Socialism
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Ecuador – PCMLE

France
“For a Revolutionary Rupture with the System”
Communist Party of the Workers of France

Germany
“Covid and the Question of Value”
Organization for the Construction of a Communist Workers’ Party of Germany

India
Covid 19 and the Working Classes
Revolutionary Democracy

Italy
The Coronavirus in Italy, from a Class Point of View
Communist Platform – for the Communist Party of the Proletariat of Italy

Mexico
Two Years of the Oligarchic Regime of the 4T in Mexico
Communist Party of Mexico (Marxist-Leninist)

Spain
The Road to the Revisionist Abyss: Notes on the Historical Experience of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist) – PCE(ml)

Tunisia
Friedrich Engels: the Journey of a Great Thinker and an Outstanding Activist
Party of the Workers of Tunisia

Turkey
Engels as an Organiser and Propagandist
Party of Labour (EMEP)

Uruguay
What Was and Is the Cuban Process
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Uruguay – PCMLU

Venezuela
In Venezuela the Struggle Advances in the Midst of Contradictions
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Venezuela – PCMLV

Tambien disponible en español.

FLOC "Songs for Justice" concert 12/4 and "Stop Corrupt H2A Labor Contractors" petition, and CODEPINK Iran petiton

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee and the Campaign for Migrant Worker Justice will host their annual benefit concert this Friday, December 4th at 7pm through free live-stream (suggested donation $10 dollars) and in person (with very limited, socially distant seating) at the Sofia Quintero Arts and Cultural Center in Toledo, Ohio (1222 Broadway Street).  Learn about the farm labor organizing struggle through traditional and original Mexican folk songs and narratives presented by FLOC president Baldemar Velasquez and the Aquila Negra Band.  To attend in person, sponsor, or donate (this might be tax deductible), see the links below or call 419 243 3456.  A live concert was being organized here in April.    

Several years ago FLOC released two CDs of songs, mostly in Spanish; Justice Has No Borders is still available through the FLOC Shop ( www.floc.com/wordpress/floc-shop/ ) while Canciones Por La Causa can probably be found secondhand through Amazon.com, eBay.com, etc.  FLOC also sells bumper stickers, logo caps, clothes, bags, water bottles, and art and can take direct donations.  

www.floc.com/wordpress/annual-songs-for-justice-benefit-concert/

facebook.com/events/658450938154168

FLOC also has a petition to the US Department of Labor and Reynolds American, Inc., "Stop Corrupt H2A Labor Contractors," including in eastern North Carolina:  

actionnetwork.org/letters/stop-corrupt-h2a-labor-contractors/

The Durham-based Triangle Friends of Farmworkers continues to meet monthly, through Zoom ( facebook.com/trianglefriendsoffarmworkers ).

There is also a CODEPINK petition against the assassination of Iranian physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Friday (November 27th):  www.codepink.org/mohsenfakhrizadeh  There have been many suspected, actual, or attempted murders of Iranian scientists since 2007, especially during the Obama-Biden administration, and according to Wikipedia this is the first during the Trump administration, though the prime suspect seems to be Israel ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Iranian_nuclear_scientists ).    

More comments on the election and another rally in Raleigh Saturday

Below is a comment from TMLU ( redstarpublishers.org/TMLU.htm ) and a letter to the editor.  There is also a new post about the election results at Marxism Leninism Currents Today:  ml-today.com/

 

Following the rally last Saturday (see earlier post) there will be another rally 1 - 3:30pm Saturday, the 14th at Raleigh's Halifax Mall (16 West Jones Street), announcements posted below or see these pages:  www.mobilize.us/sunrisemovement/event/363067/ or facebook.com/events/400031268036755/

 

I have to wonder if the talk of a Trump coup was really just hot air from the White House seized upon by the Democratic Party to scare the public.  Violence around an election is possible, but it seems like a successful coup would require support from the military, "the deep state," domestic and international politicians, corporate leaders, the mainstream media, etc. and I doubt Trump has much support from those sectors, even from Republicans.  A civil war would also require military, police, and government support or at least acquiescence.  I can get behind organizing against a rightist coup and for a left fightback, but not rallying support for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who are likely to block progress in many areas, after successfully preventing even a left Democrat from winning the primary and then appealing to Republicans during the election.  The left should be preparing to "push" or fight them, not whitewashing what they represent.  US coups are possible - the Supreme Court installed George W Bush and Cheney in 2000 and there wasn't enough organized outrage to safeguard the election or punish those behind the irregularities later.  Obama and Biden then excused the crimes carried out during the Bush Administration, so the guilty parties are still influential, such as at the CIA and in the media.  There is talk of prosecuting Trump for something unspecified, but they let Bush and Co. go free and complain about the chant "lock her up," though Clinton must be guilty of something after being secretary of state during a time of questionable wars and foreign policy).      

 

Special on the election results by Toward Marxist-Leninist Unity

 

While Trump represented growing fascism  

 

Biden Represents Imperialism as Usual  

 

As Karl Marx pointed out: “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”

 

 

This is a lesson that must be learned by those participating in the celebrations of Biden’s victory. They were mostly young members of the petty bourgeois, as were unfortunately most of the protestors while Trump was in office. The workers should be the main ones mobilizing against all reactionary policies.  

 

Biden’s victory shows that bourgeois democracy still has some strength. When it is shaken, it can use outright fascism or social democracy to shore up its interests. The defeat of Trump, and the refusal to allow Sanders to win the Democratic Party nomination, show that the ruling class does not (yet) need to use either of these.  

 

Clearly, the majority of the bourgeoisie supported Biden. Not only was Trump too erratic, but he was often seen as promoting his own personal business interests (as in his good relations with Putin) over the interests of the U.S. ruling class as a whole. He also angered major U.S. allies, particularly in the European Union, by placing tariffs on their exports, etc.  

 

While Trump was a proto-fascist, that does not mean that most of his supporters were. Unfortunately, there were many workers (mostly but not only white workers) who believed in Trump’s demagogy, such as bringing back jobs.  

 

One can see that a good number of working class (and petty bourgeois) supporters of Trump still had a certain class instinct, at least on the economic level, by the example of Florida. While the state went for Trump, a referendum for a $15 an hour minimum wage was passed with 60% of the vote, so a significant number of Trump supporters also had to have voted for this.  

 

If one recognizes any serious tactical differences between Trump and Biden, then I think my position to only vote for Biden in “swing states” was correct. In several of these states, both “major party” candidates got less than 50% of the vote, which meant that the results could have been swayed by “third party” (mainly Libertarian) candidates. But in a “safe” Democratic state like New York, the Green Party seems to have lost its ballot status, having won only about 23,000 votes. In 2016, Jill Stein won over 100,000 votes in New York State as the Green Party presidential candidate. Many who would have voted Green wasted their vote on Biden, who would have won in New York anyway.  

 

Where Did Biden Stand on Major Issues?  

 

We must remember Biden’s position on major questions, both as Senator and as Vice-President under Obama. He supported Obama when he deported more immigrants than any other president (including Trump). He helped pass laws leading to mass incarceration, particularly of Black and other oppressed peoples. He supported both invasions of Iraq. And he helped organize Obama’s trillion dollar bail-out of the banks and monopoly corporations during the 2008-2009 crisis. He will undoubtedly give away more trillions to the members of the ruling class (while giving crumbs to working people), but this will not be sufficient to get the country out of Great Depression Two. He will also involve the US in more local wars, while stepping up preparations for contention with imperialist rivals, particularly Russia and China, on a world scale.  

 

The Biden fervor will cool off after he takes office and shows that he is an ordinary imperialist president. It is the task of serious progressive and revolutionary fighters to organize for a progressive working people’s party that can take part in the class struggle in all arenas, including but certainly not only the electoral arena. This must go along with the fight to build up a genuine mass Marxist-Leninist party that can take the lead in the fight for socialism in the U.S.  

 

Towards Marxist-Leninist Unity, c/o Red Star Publishers, www.RedStarPublishers.org

Below is the comment from progressive Green Party member [ ] in opposition to the position put forward in the October 31 issue of Towards Marxist-Leninist Unity calling for a vote for Biden only in “swing” states. My answer can be seen in the main article above.  

 

I am shocked that the lead article in TMLU recommends that we vote for the other capitalist stooge and imperialist-BIDEN. The rationale is that if Trump were re-elected, he would try to impose a Nazi dictatorship and Biden would not. That is the rationale of the corrupt Democratic Party! The author of the aforementioned article forgets that U.S. presidents do not run this country; the capitalist ruling class, headquartered at Wall Street does.  It is not in its interest at this time to resort to an all out fascist regime. This election will have the most voters ever in our history go to the polls. The overwhelming majority still believes this is a democracy and that there is a real difference between the two major parties. Most voters are voting not on the issues but out of fear that the other major party will win. Capitalism cannot solve and is largely responsible for these existential issues--the climate crisis, the economic meltdown and COVID-19. As Glenn Ford of the Black Agenda Report puts it, "The Democratic Party is not the 'lesser of the two evils', it is the more effective."

 

[Signed by an influential New York Green; I'm not sure how public this message is supposed to be; see a future issue.]

 

 

NC Team Democracy:

 

North Carolinians who came together this year to protect each other, to raise our voice, and to cast our ballots will come together again in Raleigh to send a clear message -- the people will be heard and the people will rise.

We hope you can join us on Saturday at Halifax Mall. You can click here to register! [see link above]

 We’ve always known the work, and the need to build a stronger movement, would not end on November 3rd. We’re gathering because we refuse to be pushed back by fear, as so many generations have before us. With that courage, we’ll forge forward.

 When we’re fighting for progress — racial justice, affordable healthcare, economic justice, climate action, and more — we have to use every tool in the toolbox to demand the change we deserve and protect our communities. 

More details are below, or you can find them here. 

 We hope to see you on Saturday!

 In Solidarity,
Team Democracy

 

WHO: North Carolinians demanding change
WHAT: Team Democracy Presents: The People Will Rise
WHERE: Halifax Mall, 300 N Salisbury St. Raleigh, NC 27603.
WHEN: 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

 

 

Los habitantes de Carolina del Norte que se unieron este año para protegerse unos a otros, para hacer oir sus voces y para emitir sus votos, se reunirán nuevamente en Raleigh para enviar un mensaje claro: el pueblo será escuchado y el pueblo se levantará.

Esperamos que pueda acompañarnos el sábado en Halifax Mall. ¡Puede hacer clic aquí para registrarse!

 Siempre supimos que el trabajo y la necesidad de construir un movimiento más fuerte no terminarían el 3 de noviembre. Nos reunimos porque nos negamos a que el miedo nos eche para atras, al igual que muchas generaciones antes que nosotros. Con ese coaje empujaremos hacia adelante juntos. 

 Cuando luchamos por el progreso – justicia racial, atención médica asequible, justicia económica, acción climática y más – tenemos que utilizar todas las herramientas disponibles para exigir el cambio que merecemos y proteger a nuestras comunidades.

Más detalles se encuentran a continuación, o puede encontrarlos aquí.

¡Esperamos verlos el sábado!

En Solidaridad,
El Equipo Democracia

 

QUIÉN: Los habitantes de Carolina del Norte que exigen un cambio
QUÉ: El Equipo Democracia presenta: El Pueblo se levantará
DÓNDE: Halifax Mall, 300 N Salisbury St. Raleigh, NC 27603.
CUÁNDO: 1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

 

 

 

 

 

Post-election analysis and plans from the Green Howie Hawkins - Angela Walker campaign

Below is a substantial statement sent out by the Green Party's presidential campaign Monday, November 9th, looking at the results of the election and proposing directions for Green and general left organizing over the next four years.  Apparently the NC party has again lost its ballot access, meaning time, effort, and resources will again have to be spent to get Green candidates on to the ballot in future elections (where the media can then try to ignore them), rather than focusing on getting Green candidates elected.  If the Democrats regain control of the legislature they might try to make the rules for getting on the ballot more onerous (I think it was under the Republicans that the requirements were reduced).  The statement mentions the need for a dues-paying mass party, and the North Carolina Green Party uses this model, though members still seem "isolated" (where is the Triangle branch?) and the party could do more between and beyond elections.  This statement is similar to the shorter press release posted on their campaign website November 7th:  howiehawkins.us/release-hawkins-and-walker-react-to-trumps-defeat/ 

 

"We want to express our deepest thanks to all who supported our campaign through a particularly difficult year for Greens and independent socialists. Your encouragement gave us the strength and resolve to give the campaign our all.

 

We’re not stopping. We are continuing to the fight for our program, to organize our grassroots political base, and to build cooperation across the independent green and socialist left. We have filed for the next election cycle as Howie Hawkins For Our Future so we can continue to raise and spend money on this political organizing.

 

We invite you to keep working with us.

 

We are happy to say good riddance to Trump. But we also know that Biden has no solutions. As he said to billionaire donors at a high rollers fundraiser, “Nothing would fundamentally change.”

 

We know that a lot has to fundamentally change to resolve the life-or-death problems of climate, poverty, racism, and nuclear war. We are running out of time. Real solutions can’t wait!

 

So we are continuing to speak out and organize to advance our policy demands, to strengthen local parties, to secure state ballot lines, and to help elect thousands to local offices and, on that foundation, to state legislatures and the House of Representatives. 

 

We have just begun to organize and we want you with us in this fight.

 

What Happened?

 

This election was simply a referendum on Trump. Biden was Not-Trump, nothing more.

 

The Green campaign was blanked out in the national corporate media and most of the progressive media. The Green ticket came in fourth again nationally, although our vote was substantially down from 2016. The Green Party was on 30 state ballots, down from 45 in 2015, due to the difficulties of petitioning during Covid-19 pandemic, a competitive primary that delayed petitioning before the nominating convention, and aggressive ballot petition challenges by the Democratic Party. If votes per dollar were the measure, we won in a landslide at around $1.25 per vote compared to over $13 per vote for Biden.

 

We must face the fact that we largely fell short in our two primary campaign goals.

 

One goal was to advance our policy demands, including a full-strength Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and ending the endless wars.

 

Polling shows these policy demands have majority support. Trump and Biden opposed them. Yet the media excluded us.

 

However, we were able to reach millions through social media, especially young people who are fighting for their futures and want climate, racial, and economic justice – now!

 

Our second goal was to expand ballot access for the Green Party. Our vote was too low in every state where it might have gained or extended our ballot status. We lost our hard-won ballot status in states like New Mexico, New York, and North Carolina. The Green Party still retains ballot status in many states by other criteria and we plan to help state parties secure ballot access in every state in the next few years.

 

We should also recognize that the progressive Democrats got clobbered, too – or more accurately, clobbered themselves. Once the corporate Democrats closed ranks with Biden to defeat Bernie Sanders, the progressive Democrats lined up behind Biden without making any policy demands. Their prominent personalities focused on a public smear campaign against the Greens as “spoilers” instead of advancing a progressive agenda. They now have little if any political leverage with the Biden administration. The corporate Democrats are already blaming progressive Democrats for supposedly making the presidential election too close and for the loss of some US Senate races.

 

The good news is to be found in many local Green campaigns. Emmanuel Estrada was elected mayor of Baldwin Park in east Los Angeles. Franca Mueller Paz finished second with 35% for Baltimore city council, which has been an all-Democratic one-party dictatorship for nearly 80 years. Lisa Savage’s 4% for a Maine US Senate seat in a close race was highlighted her widely appreciated presentation of a positive program in televised debates in contrast to the sour negative sniping by the major party candidates. We had over 200 Green candidates this year and at least 10 won their elections. 

 

What’s Next?

 

These local campaigns tell us what we need to do next. We need to go back to the Green Party’s roots in organizing local party chapters, leading issue campaigns in our communities, and electing people to local office. We need to rebuild the Green Party from the bottom up.

 

We want to help local parties get better organized and capable of leading issue campaigns and electing thousands as we go into the 2020s to local office, and, on that foundation, to state legislatures and the House.

 

We want to help state parties recover or gain ballot lines, starting next year, so our local candidates can more easily get on the ballot and our 2024 presidential campaign will be on the ballot in all 50 states.

 

We want to keep pushing our program in the social movements – the ecosocialist Green New Deal, the Economic Bill of Rights to end poverty and economic insecurity, community control of the police, peace initiatives, and voting rights and pro-democracy reforms, including ranked-choice voting and proportional representation.

 

We have low expectations that any significant progressive reforms can be won under a Biden administration. Biden promises a national unity administration, with Republicans in the cabinet and an emphasis on working across the aisle with Republicans in Congress. 

 

A Covid relief package brokered with Republicans in Congress is likely to be crumbs for working people and tax breaks and subsides for the super-rich and the giant corporations. Their bipartisan trickle-down theory assumes the rich will invest this corporate welfare in the real economy to create jobs when the reality is they will invest most of it in financial assets – stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate – which won’t trickle down to the rest of us as living-wage jobs.

 

The next few years will be a time for us to build popular support for our state and national policy demands and to build a grassroots party power base that can conduct effective state and national issue and electoral campaigns.

 

We think it is time for the Green Party to re-organize itself as a dues-paying mass-membership party rooted in strong local party chapters. We must face the fact that the Green Party’s 20-year experiment as a national party organized as a federation of state ballot lines has failed. The current Green base largely consists of isolated party registrants and supporters who are not organized into local party chapters or into Green issue and electoral campaigns. The party has not had the funding to provide support staff for effective party field organizing, public communications, and issue and electoral campaigns.

 

We will also continue to encourage solidarity and cooperation among Green and independent socialist groups in building a major party of the left in US politics. None of us is big enough to be the major party. All of us should work together to build that party.

 

We hope will you to stay supportive and engaged in our organizing and activities. 

 

We are determined, not defeated. 

 

In solidarity,

 

Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker"

NC Rally to Protect Our Votes with Team Democracy November 7th in Raleigh - #CountEveryVote

There will be a rally at Halifax Mall in downtown Raleigh (16 West Jones Street) Saturday, November 7th (which also happens to be the 103rd anniversary of the anti-capitalist Great October Socialist Revolution in the former Russian Empire in 1917) 1 - 3pm "to demonstrate mass, peaceful support for counting all the votes and respecting the results.  Join us in celebrating our democracy and protecting our votes."  Participants are asked to wear masks and maintain social distance.  This is being organized by Team Democracy, Carolina Federation, National Domestic Workers' Alliance, NC Association of Educators, NC AFL-CIO, UNITE-HERE Local 23, Fight for $15, Black Workers for Justice, Durham for All, Down Home NC, Carolina Jews for Justice, Sunrise Movement, Siembra NC, Piedmont Rising, United Electrical 150 - the NC Public Service Workers Union, Southern Workers Assembly, Triangle Showing Up for Racial Justice, Guilford for All, and others.  For more information see: 

 

www.mobilize.us/carolinafederation/

 

facebook.com/events/354726659170975

 

I think there were similar protests in Durham and Hillsborough earlier in the week and people are observing the vote counting.

 

The votes for each office should be accurately counted and the winners installed in office, and there should be action in the streets if that doesn't happen, not only in courts, to avoid a repeat of the 2000 election.  Once the election is safely over, holding the president's "feet to the fire" can begin (preferably from the start of his term, as happened in 2017), though I think many of the people fired up over the Trump administration will stay silent while the media and some prominent leftists will take a more friendly and cooperative stance towards the executive branch if Biden-Harris wins, and there are few national level organizations not coopted by the Democrats to organize resistance.  Whether the president is Biden or Trump there is likely to be continuing police brutality, repression, loss of civil liberties, corporate welfare, anti-unionism, austerity, climate crises, corruption, coups, and the current wars will continue and more might be started, but under Biden there would be fewer protests and the media would hide what is going on or they would cover it, but with less shared outrage and sympathy, to return things to Clinton-Bush-Obama "normal."  NPR even briefly referred to the US anti-war movement during the last four years, but I don't remember them ever saying those words under George W Bush or Obama.  I have yet to hear them refer to Green and Socialist candidate Howie Hawkins or any other 2020 third party candidate for president, though I did hear about two references to the existence of the Green Party, mentioning Democratic Party attempts to remove the Green Party from ballots and when saying that there were not any third party choices this year.  Four years ago they mentioned Green candidate Jill Stein by name only after the election was over.  If eight years of Obama-Biden imperialist neoliberalism and inadequate response to climate change resulted in the last four years, how will things stand after four to eight more years of neoliberal Democratic rule with inadequate resistance from the left, economic and health crises, ever more obvious climate change, and the rise of China and other competitors in an increasingly multipolar world?  In four years there will again be the demand that Americans vote for the supposedly "lesser evil," covering over what the Democrats have done, there probably won't be a strong third party challenger, and there is the possibility of someone like Trump, but more effective at governing, and possibly less "isolationist," coming up.  It seems naïve to willfully misleading to assert that Biden will change his spots much as president, and the Republicans will probably control the Senate, as well as the Supreme Court.  If I'm not mistaken the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress at the start of Obama's first term, and so had a free hand to carry out the sweeping progressive policies they supposedly want to implement now.  On the other hand maybe things are coming to such a point that public anger won't go back underground for long if Biden wins.